Stephens v. Guffey

• Decision Date: 12 December 1966
• Docket Number: No. 51725,No. 1,51725,1
• Citation: 409 S.W.2d 62
• Parties: Ruby Dee STEPHENS, Respondent, v. Helen Joyce GUFFEY, Appellant
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

Page 62

409 S.W.2d 62

Ruby Dee STEPHENS, Respondent, v. Helen Joyce GUFFEY, Appellant.

No. 51725.

Supreme Court of Missouri, Division No. 1.

Dec. 12, 1966.

Larry M. Woods, Columbia, for respondent; Orr, Sapp & Woods, Columbia, of counsel.

Terence C. Porter, Columbia, for appellant; Welliver, Porter & Cleveland, Columbia, of counsel.

HIGGINS, Commissioner.

On December 23, 1963, at 4:30 p.m., Ruby Dee Stephens was driving her 1957 Oldsmobile and, while stopped at an intersection, was struck from the rear by Helen Joyce Guffey driving her 1959 Chevrolet sedan at a speed of 20 or 25 miles per hour. The impact was 'fairly hard' and knocked Mrs. Stephens 30 to 35 feet forward. Repair estimate on the Oldsmobile was $330.19; the Chevrolet sustained $400 damage. Mrs. Stephens had a verdict for $19,670 for personal injuries and $330 for property damage. Appellant's points question neither the submissibility nor the property damage but are concerned with injuries and causation.

Appellant's Point I is that the court should have ordered a new trial 'for the reason that the verdict is too large to be sustained by the evidence adduced on any theory except that the plaintiff's condition at the time of trial was the direct and proximate result of the accident which was shown in evidence and since the evidence on this point was too unsubstantial and uncertain to justify such finding the verdict is clearly erroneous and must be reversed.' Appellant concedes that plaintiff suffered an injury when struck from the rear by defendant on December 23, 1963, but takes the position that the verdict is so grossly excessive as to require reversal upon two theories: 'First, the size of the verdict is such that to be sustained it must be based upon plaintiff's evidence of continued complaints of pain and disability and repeated hospitalization with respect to conditions, the causes and nature of which were so uncertain as to be totally incapable of being proven to be the direct and proximate result of the accident. Second, since plaintiff's own evidence shows that her continued complaints and disability may be the result of rheumatoid arthritis and drooping or sloped shoulders, neither of which was in any way connected with the accident, there was a failure of proof with respect to causation.'

In addition to the evidence of the severity and type of collision, plaintiff, a 29-year-old mother of two children, experienced immediate dizziness and pain in her neck. The pain persisted as a dull ache 'all that evening,' and when she arose the next morning she was so sore she could hardly move. Her neck hurt 'all the way around.' She went to her work at Hubbard Heating in Columbia where she had done general office work for seven or eight months, but after about an hour she went to her physician, Dr. James Denninghoff. She had never had any difficulties with her neck, back, hands, arms, or shoulders prior to the collision; she had led a normal, active life, and had no difficulty of a physical nature. Dr. Denninghoff prescribed ultrasound treatments which send sound waves into affected areas, muscle relaxant and pain tablets. She continued her work and took the treatments every day except Christmas in the week following. She vomited on the first day and had sensation of liquid in her neck, 'it made a squashing sound.' Dr. Denninghoff kept increasing the pain medicine and, on January 10, 1964, put her in the hospital. She was there for six days and received cervical traction accomplished by putting a strap around her chin and pulling her head back by 5-pound weights as she lay flat. She could not stand the constant pull so the application was made 'on two hours and then off an hour.' In addition to the traction she received pain tablets, sleeping pills, and heating pad treatment. She returned to her work but after a day or two her arms started bothering her and when she moved them there was a 'popping or thudding noise * * *. The left arm got very difficult to use.' On January 27, 1964, she was returned to the hospital and to the care of Dr. Glenn McElroy, an orthopedic specialist. She was there for two weeks receiving cervical traction and physical therapy which included ultrasound, heat packs, and automatic traction similar to that taken three times a week between the two periods in the hospital. Automatic traction pulls the head up with twenty pounds of force and then releases. The treatment lasts twenty to thirty minutes. Following the second hospitalization she returned to work but she took codeine, tranquilizers, and relaxants, and continued her therapy. On March 28, 1964, she was again admitted to the hospital. 'It was my back and my right leg--were beginning to bother me plus the fact that my shoulders and arms hadn't gotten any better and were still hurting quite badly.' Leg traction through use of 5-pound weights was started during this third hospitalization which lasted until April 13, 1964. She attempted some of her work while in the hospital but her employer needed part-time help to assist her. In September, '* * * my back and leg got considerably worse * * * and then the arms and the neck hadn't gotten any better and at times, I could use my arms for awhile but after using them so long, things would fall out of my hands and they--they would get numb. After an hour's or so rest, I could use them some again, but they don't work quite right and at times I would get where I couldn't write.' On October 26, 1964, she gave up her job and was readmitted to the hospital. She stayed until November 20, 1964, during which period a myelogram was performed consisting of injecting dye into her spine. This process resulted in headaches and waves of pain upon movement. She also received her therapy, added whirlpool baths and began receiving painful M.S. electric shock. Upon release she continued such treatments and, in January, 1965, she took part-time employment at Columbia Service Bureau and was unable to work full time when her case was tried in May, 1965. At trial her right leg and back hurt. Her left shoulder hurt some but most of the pain in her neck is on the right side. Her right arm was worse. The pain in her right leg was down the inside, and the outside felt 'numbish.' She had muscle cramps and 'charley horses' in her legs; 'they draw quite badly' and the leg won't straighten out. Her right hip also hurt and there was a sharp pain a good bit of the time in her lower back. It hurt for her to turn her head. She had trouble walking; she had fear of being jostled; housework hurts; her leg cramps when driving; she could not care for her hair as quickly; and she was no longer able to be active. Where she formerly made $90 per week pay, she now averages $45 to $50 per week. She takes sleeping bills and Excedrin and tires easily. She began limping in March, 1964, and cannot now walk without a limp. Her hospital bill was $1,533; Dr. McElroy's bill was $376. She had a bill from the University of Missouri Medical Center for consultation, tests, and X rays of $302.50, a bill of $50 from Dr. Denninghoff, and a drug bill of $75. All the bills were said to result from the collision and were described by the doctors as reasonable and necessary. She had a total loss of wages of $3,100. These special damages exceeded $5,400.

Thomas Hubbard, Mrs. Stephens's employer, observed her during her 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. working hours, and knew of no physical impediment prior to December 23, 1963. She was never off work and he knew of no complaints or trouble prior to the collision. After December 23, 1963, she seemed extremely tired and when she reached down to pick up something, '* * * you could hear her muscles * * * you could hear what sounded like a squeak.' In respect to her walking, 'She would kinda sidle * * * shuffle along instead of walking like a person normally would.' She was alert and able to get around well before the collision but became more cautious, less efficient, and slower afterward. Prior to December 23, 1963, she was cheerful, not emotionally upset, and a normal, active young woman.

Mrs. Stephens's next employer, Merle Buck, hired her February 16, 1965, for part-time work with knowledge of her disability. He noticed 'an apparent discomfort or disability * * * and the nature of this discomfort appears to be in the back, neck and perhaps legs. * * * I have observed a stiffness in the movement of the head and neck. I have observed an apparent stiffness in the spine--in the back in observing her walking and sitting down and rising from a chair.' She gets up 'slowly and purposefully. * * * the citations that I've made have been constant and continual.'

Thomas Coffman also observed Mrs. Stephens at her second employment. '* * * she seems to be slow rising, she watches herself the way she moves herself, and she seems to have * * * a stiffness of the neck and she just doesn't move around the office like she should.' He watched her when she did not know it and 'She seemed to walk slow, she is slow and cautious, she kinda seemed to guard herself.' Such movements are constant. She uses the office furniture for support.

Dr. James Denninghoff is a specialist in internal medicine. When he first saw Mrs. Stephens on December 24, 1963, she gave a history of the rear-end collision on the afternoon of December 23 and had pain in the neck on any motion of the head at that time. Upon examination 'she had pain to where she couldn't move her head in the directions I mentioned.' She had limitation primarily to the left. He had her take three ultrasound treatments and saw her next on December 28. She then seemed somewhat improved, 'there was less soreness although there was some aching yet in the muscles * * *. At that time, because the symptoms were not very severe and because she did seem to be responding reasonably well, I recommended that she be put on some muscle relaxents and pain relievers and to see me if the symptoms should worsen as sometimes...